Texas vs Tampa Bay - ALDS IST

[HahnSolo]

Wow, if the Rays had any fans, they'd be making their ways to the exits.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I predict Baldelli will be a 2011 Met. Book it.

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: Rays' Baldelli out of Rangers series with fatigue.......he has some sort of syndrome or malady right?

You didn't used to be able to shuffle players in and out of the roster within a playoff series. Not sure when they started allowing them to do so.
I also don't really like that rule because, while it's probably legit for Baldelli - yes, he's dealt for years with some sort of affliction - I can see teams abusing it just to get new players in for what they think are better matchups later on in a series.

[seawolf17]

Frayed Knot wrote: metirish wrote: Rays' Baldelli out of Rangers series with fatigue.......he has some sort of syndrome or malady right? You didn't used to be able to shuffle players in and out of the roster within a playoff series. Not sure when they started allowing them to do so. I also don't really like that rule because, while it's probably legit for Baldelli - yes, he's dealt for years with some sort of affliction - I can see teams abusing it just to get new players in for what they think are better matchups later on in a series.

Didn't someone do that at some point in the last few years? That rule change is relatively recent, and I vaguely remember a team (the Cardinals?) making a shifty mid-series injury replacement.

[Frayed Knot]

The time lapse between the institution of new rules in sports and the teams trying to figure out ways to circumvent and abuse them is usually measured in nano-seconds.

[HahnSolo]

We couldn't replace Cliff Floyd...or activate El Duque.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

[seawolf17]

HahnSolo wrote: We couldn't replace Cliff Floyd...or activate El Duque. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

I'm still pissed that Willie used Floyd to pinch-hit in that spot. If I ran into Willie on the street, the first thing I'd say would be "Really? Cliff? Ugh."

[Guest Edgy DC]

The rule was relaxed to some extent because of the Mets, actually, when a rainout forced them them to juggle their rotation and got caught without their scheduled starter.

[HahnSolo]

seawolf17 wrote: I'm still pissed that Willie used Floyd to pinch-hit in that spot. If I ran into Willie on the street, the first thing I'd say would be "Really? Cliff? Ugh."

I was more thinking that Cliff got hurt in like the second inning of game 1, and we played a man short the whole series.

Plus, if you remember, game 1 had been rained out, eliminating the off day between games 2 and 3...and MLB would not let either team adjust their roster to account for the off day. Both teams would likely have tried to add another pitcher.

***Or what Edgy said.

[Frayed Knot]

See that would have been a little different as any adjustments could have been made before game 1 started. MLB, in that case, just stubbornly stuck to their previous deadline even after the rain delay.
Now, it seems, they've gone from that extreme to one where they let teams make rosters changes with players who have already appeared in the series. Now I'm sure there's some kind of requirement in that rule where the team has to show cause as to why they should be allowed to make a switch but, at the same time, it's not like Tampa just became aware of Baldelli's potential problems last night.

[Frayed Knot]

In the meantime, Tampa is getting one hit thru 7 and trailing 6-0

[Zvon]

Rays' Baldelli out of Rangers series with fatigue.......he has some sort of syndrome or malady right?

Segments from Wiki:

Baldelli underwent extensive medical testing to determine the reasons for his muscle problems and worsening fatigue after even brief workouts. Doctors discovered some "metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities" and began trying to design a medical plan to improve the condition. During the 2008-09 offseason, further medical testing indicated that Baldelli suffers from a form of channelopathy, which makes his condition less serious and more treatable than the previous diagnosis of a mitochondrial disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channelopathy


(I just turned on the game. Was reading this thread. Don't know if the broadcast detailed his ailment)

[smg58]

So I'm rooting for the Rays, Reds, Giants, and (of course) the Twins. At this point, I'll settle for one of the four avoiding a sweep.

[Valadius]

Catcher Dioner Navarro whines about not getting put on the playoff roster, ditches the team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Dioner-Navarro-ditches-Rays-after-being-dumped-f?urn=mlb-275353

[Guest Edgy DC]

He's a true Yankee.

[ashie62]

Texas @ MFY's..that should be good.

[Frayed Knot]

Ashie62 wrote: Texas @ MFY's..that should be good.

Sure. Follow up the Twins with the only team who can match them when it comes to getting beat by the Yanx (1-9 during post-season).

[ashie62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Ashie62 wrote: Texas @ MFY's..that should be good. Sure. Follow up the Twins with the only team who can match them when it comes to getting beat by the Yanx (1-9 during post-season).

It is a new year.

[metirish]

I knew nothing about the Rangers beyond their manger, Lee, Hamilton and some other good hitters, certainly didn't know that their starting pitching was this good after Lee.

Good pitching game through five.

As I write this Ron with the quick hook of Lew, five walks through five and he's gone....two hits ...

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well, well. Longoria's playing in this series? Whaddaya know. (3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, through a quad strain.)

Game 1 redux to finish it off Tuesday night.

[HahnSolo]

Hate the day off here. Am I wrong in thinking that they did not have these travel days before? Never mind that it screws up the rotation for the winning team in the ALCS, but I thought the idea was to speed up the playoffs?

Was also surprised to not see more being made of Washington's positively-Jerry-like bullpen usage in game three.

[Frayed Knot]

HahnSolo wrote: Hate the day off here. Am I wrong in thinking that they did not have these travel days before? Never mind that it screws up the rotation for the winning team in the ALCS, but I thought the idea was to speed up the playoffs?

For a while - even after going to the 2-2-1 format in best-of-5 series - they tried keeping it to one travel day but I think that ran up against players' union complaints. I remember a Yanx/Oakland series where they had to fly coast-to-coast with no day off after game 5 was forced by an Oakland win. I believe there's not been another one of those since.

The other culprit is, of course, television. What TBS doesn't want in the early rounds is 4 games scheduled on the same day to the point where over-lapping games would essentially draw viewers from themselves. That's why one series (Phils-Cin this year) has its 5 games scheduled with 3 off-days built in.
In the LCS & WS, FOX wanted more days in between so they could maintain various parts of their standard prime-time sked.
I believe they've eliminated one of those extra days this year with an eye towards paring it down to the standard 2-3-2 next season with only travel days in between.

Was also surprised to not see more being made of Washington's positively-Jerry-like bullpen usage in game three.

Agreed. He was burning through his pen back when he still had the lead and was in real trouble by the 9th inning. He even had Cliff Lee warming at one point. Totally over the top.

[HahnSolo]

You know, now that I think about it, in 2005, the Angels played a game 4 in YS on a Sunday night, then flew cross country for game 5 in Anaheim on Monday, then had to fly to Chicago to play game one of the LCS on Tuesday night. I'm sure rain was the cause of that bunching of games, but that's going overboard the other way to cave in to TV, I'm sure.

[Valadius]

The Rays are a bunch of iPad farm game dorks:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AvenNaiCiMuYKEIenzdUUkk5nYcB?slug=jp-rayswefarm101110

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Congrats to the Rangers. All Cliffy there.

Plus the Rays aren't all that great offensively.

[Frayed Knot]

Lee with another gem.
First ever playoff series win for Texas

So long Rays - both from this series and to your team as it is currently structured.
FAs (Crawford, Soriano, Pena) and money will make this a different team next year - and if they had trouble drawing this season ...


Home teams 4-11 overall in this first round btw.

[Valadius]

And with that, every team in baseball has won at least one playoff series (Les Expos took advantage of the halved 1981 season to beat the Phillies before losing to the eventual champion Dodgers).

The Rays clearly spent too much time planting virtual crops.

[MFS62]

I listened to the game on the radio.
They said that in the entire history of the post season, prior to this game, a pitcher has pitched seven innings or more with 10 Ks and no walks only six times. And Lee had done it three of those times. Now it must be four of seven for Lee.
What a great mid year pickup for the Rangers.

Later

[G-Fafif]

Is there anything Jeff Francoeur CAN'T do? Not according to the latest beat reporter hypnotized by his all-around Frenchiness, Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News:

Loosest of loose bunch of pregame Rangers was Jeff Francoeur, who started in right field after sitting out last three games. His looseness didn�t translate into much production on the field (he was 0-for-4 and grounded into a double play), but it did help keep the team in the right frame of mind.

What came first: the Rangers' looseness and frame of mind entering the deciding game of a playoff series or the Rangers having gotten to the brink of winning a playoff series? The answer: Jeff Francoeur is a great guy to have around.